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Marianie
Marian Hukom, or also known as Marianie, is a Filipino comics artist and multimedia artist. She is known for her online comic strips in her Facebook page. But what got her known in the local convention circuit was her first full comic, "Palaso". It won 'Best Student Komiks' at Komiket 2018. Marianie is currently working on her comic series and platform, Nagmamahal, Maria Clara (Love, Maria Clara). She is also an in-house artist at the collective Komiks Sundays. Career Early Work During her time as a Multimedia Arts student at De La-Salle College of Saint Benilde, Marianie started creating mini-comic strips that she posted online. The strips mostly focused on small gags, lyrical art, and relationships. After consistent posting, she gained her following and features. She later expanded on strips with political, social, and mature subject matter. Comics Palaso Marianie's first ever full-length comic that put her into the local convention circuit. It was released in 2017 in Komiket and had about 20 fully-colored pages. It won 'Best Student Komiks' in Komiket 2018. Palaso is a story about a cupid who, instead of giving love, is the one who takes it away. From heartbreaks to fading relationships, no job is too much for the professional Dark Cupid. But he may have met his match in his latest client, Joy Diaz. Plot (SPOILERS AHEAD) In a world where cupids exist, there is also Dark Cupid. Unlike his peers, Dark Cupid's job is to handle heartbreaks and ending relationships. Technically explained, when regular cupids (literally) shoot their arrows, love begins. But over time, these arrows wither as a relationship fades or is broken. In other cases, the cupids misfire and cause unrequited love. The broken or stray arrows become emotional baggage on a person. This is where Dark Cupid comes in. It is Dark Cupid's job to (literally) pull out those arrows so a person is given a chance to love again or have a fair amount of baggage. But, the person must be ready to move on as well (usually through Dark Cupid's counsel or plots). An emotionless professional, he finishes his jobs quickly with the help of his partner (who speaks through his ear piece). However, he was shocked at his latest client, Joy Diaz. Joy is a aspiring writer with countless arrows at her back. Despite the overflowing emotional baggage, Joy is perky which confuses and challenges Dark Cupid. Disguised as her collab romance writer, he goes out of his way to know Joy for a week. They visit her past date spots (for 'research') and slowly unravels Joy's past relationships. They become close and Dark Cupid was able to reach the last arrow. But unlike other arrows, the last one was strange. Dark Cupid's partner revealed it came from cupid himself. Although he handles heartbreaks, he was still a cupid who has the ability to shoot arrows. But this time, it was love between him and Joy. Overwhelmed, he leaves to return to his dimension via train. Meanwhile, Joy receives a mysterious phone call from Cupid's partner urging her to chase him. Realizing her feelings, she goes after Dark Cupid and catches him last minute. They share a hug but Dark Cupid suddenly pulls out the arrow from Joy's back. Dark Cupid gets on the train and leaves a frozen Joy at the platform. He sits beside a long-haired scrubby man who's apparently his intercom partner. 'Partner' happily congratulates the somber Dark Cupid on doing his job although it was too early. It's revealed that extracting an arrow when a person is not ready to move on will make him/her forget any memories of the past partner. Which is what 'partner' wanted so he called Joy and made her face Dark Cupid who was vulnerable. Realizing their relationship can't be, Dark Cupid played along as partner predicted. The two continue their jobs while Joy, who has forgotten everything, continues with her life. But a lingering feeling stays within her.